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Gamification Using a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Type Gamification Using a Choose-Your-Own- Adventure Type Platform to Augment Learning and Facilitate Student Engagement in Marketing Education Jennifer Bechkoff, MBA, PhD Purpose of the Study: Gamification is the instructor’s use of a game (e.g., role playing, word, adventure, trivia, puzzle, simulation, race, etc.) in the classroom to facilitate learning. Prior gamification research has yet to investigate the efficacy of using a choose-your-own-adventure style platform in the classroom. The purpose of this research is to explore the pedagogical value of that particular gamification method. Method/Design and Sample: Two independent studies using quantitative and qualitative data taken from three samples of marketing students at a large California university investigate the academic effectiveness, perceived helpfulness, and perceived enjoyment of a choose-your-own-adventure type game in the classroom via the open- source program Twine. Results: Results from Study 1 indicate marketing students take 23.8% less time while simultaneously scoring 10.2% higher on the module assessment when their lessons are gamified using Twine (vs. not gamified). Results from Study 2 suggest this particular gamification method also increases student engagement. Value to Marketing Educators: Given the findings of these two studies, the previously unstudied choose-your- own-adventure gamification platform is a recommended teaching method to augment marketing education as it not only increases student performance, but also student engagement. Keywords: Gamification; educational technology; instructional strategy; self-efficacy, student engagement. Jennifer Bechkoff, MBA, PhD, Associate Professor of Marketing, Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, San Jose State University, 1 Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192. Tel: 408-924-3693, Email: [email protected]. ccording to DeLotell, Millam, and Reinhardt gamification methods. Some gamification methods may (2010), deep learning in an online environment suit one’s teaching style or subject matter better than A boils down to student engagement. They believe others, some methods may be easier to incorporate into there is no better place than the online classroom to the curriculum than others, and some instructors may drive student learning and create conditions to foster be more adept at coding and using programming deeper, more fulfilling learning. Gamifying learning languages than others. The correct gamification activities is a growing trend to keep students engaged method to use is a successful one that best fits the with the core curriculum. instructor, curriculum, and desired outcomes. The college-aged Millennial generation, born 1980- Unfortunately, creating a highly-engaging instructional 1995, is currently 21-36 years old game can be difficult, time consuming, and costly (Pricewaterhousecoopers, 2013). These students have (Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, & Angelova, 2015; Kapp, grown up with digital technologies and the Internet 2012). (Jones & Hosein, 2010). According to Montenery et al. The present research identifies a gamification (2013, p. 405), “[Millennials’] learning is nonlinear and method absent from current gamification literature. It irregular, characterized by rapid shifts between Internet identifies and employs a user-friendly, cost-free sites and various devices. These students multitask, program as context to deliver that method to better are accustomed to immediate, automatic feedback, and engage the current university student demographic. desire positive reinforcement.” Gamification provides a Through a series of two studies performed across three context to meet those requirements and increase online Consumer Behavior courses, the new student engagement (Brigham, 2015). gamification method is shown to increase marketing Currently, instructors gamifying curriculum in higher students’ assessment scores and decrease their education are early adopters, but the pedagogical assessment times. In addition, marketing students method is spreading (Toyama, 2015). As the trend perceive it to be helpful, fun, and engaging. toward gamification grows, instructors need examples and options of empirically tested, successful Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education, Volume 27, Issue 1, Spring 2019 13 GAMIFICATION platform Twine is successful as a curricular enhancement, both academically and motivationally. The term gamification was first coined by British This research was performed in a virtual classroom to computer programmer and video game designer Nick see whether students would not only enjoy it, but also Pelling in 2002. He defined it as, “applying game-like benefit from it. accelerated user interface design to make electronic transactions both enjoyable and fast” (Pelling, 2011). CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN-ADVENTURE STYLE Although gamification has arguably been around for decades, the term has only fairly recently been coined, Choose Your Own Adventure was a wildly popular book but the concept is advancing rapidly as a way to teach series published by Bantam Books in the 1980s. Over and motivate students in higher education. 250 million copies were published in 38 languages Gaming (tablet platform, smartphone/watch (Lodge, 2007). The choose-your-own-adventure style platform, PCs, webgames, and game consoles) is a of nonlinear storytelling is based on of that book series. massive industry. Global Games Market Report While contemplating novel ways to gamify a marketing projects worldwide gaming revenues to reach $107 course, the author recalled the Choose Your Own billion by 2017; in 2015, $22 billion was from the United Adventure series and sought to investigate this method. States alone (Sinclair, 2015). Gamification rewards our Academic literature on the nonlinear storytelling behavior (Kim, 2015); this makes it an excellent learning method for use in pedagogy is scant at best, though tool via operant conditioning. Many extant pedagogical there is at least one example of the method being studies on the topic found that undergraduate students gamified in practice. RMIT University Library in perceive gamification positively and are interested in its Melbourne, Australia developed a browser-based, use for learning (Cheong, Filippou, & Cheong, 2014; choose-your-own-adventure style game designed to Kuo & Chuang, 2016; Nevin et al., 2014). Banfield & orient students with their University library. It is Wilkerson (2014) found gamification increases both the described by Rowan Mangan, the Library Quest intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy of undergraduate creator, as “the spoonful of sugar that helps the students in the classroom. Educational games allow for medicine go down” when it comes to learning how to trial and error, eliminating the negative pressures that navigate the school library. She also credits the game can interfere with students’ ability to learn (Cohen, with confidence building (i.e., self-efficacy) in the 2011). It is not meant to replace other types of learning students. Dr. Craig Anderson, the university librarian experiences, but rather augment them (Cain & Piascik, believes the program engages students at a deeper 2015). level. Although there is no empirical literature on Library Gamifying an entire course, however, has been Quest’s actual effectiveness, the game’s website shown to lead to decreased student motivation, contained a video with students commenting they found satisfaction, and empowerment as compared with a it “fun” and “easy to understand”. One student said it non-gamified course (Hanus & Fox, 2015). Frost, Matta, was engaging because it kept her wanting to continue and MacIvor (2015) recommend gamifying individual the game to find out “the town’s outcome,” part of the assignments in lieu of gamifying an entire course. A game’s storyline (Library Quest, 2016). longitudinal study by Hanus and Fox (2015) compared The choose-your-own-adventure method gives its a gamified course to a non-gamified course at four user autonomy and promotes active involvement. Since various points in time, and discovered decreasing Millennials are active learners (Conklin, 2012) and they motivation over time. Cognitive evaluation theory is are the current academic demographic in higher cited as the underlying reason for the result, positing education, this platform for gamification in the students felt controlled and constrained by the reward classroom warrants further investigation. aspect of the game (which in this case was earning a badge). Game rewards in the classroom should not be THEORETICAL DRIVERS authoritarian or controlling (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999; Stipek, 1996). Tangible rewards (e.g., money, There are many underlying theories as to why special privileges, or extra credit points) affect free- gamification is useful as a method of instruction in the choice behavior and are thus considered controlling, classroom. Operant conditioning, motivation theory, whereas verbal rewards (e.g., praise or performance self-efficacy theory, the novelty effect, and student feedback) enhance free choice. It is also noted engagement are a few of them. Each driver will be unexpected rewards used on occasion are beneficial, discussed, then its relationship to gameplay will be but should not be so frequent as students come to addressed. Four hypotheses theoretically supported by expect them (Deci et al., 1999). the literature are given. Gamification in the classroom has been extensively studied using video games (Fisher, Beedle, & Rouse, Operant Conditioning 2014), proprietary gaming
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